ayoungboy | We found love in a hopeless place

It's been 5 years since this whole nightmare began, and both sides had sustained incredible casualties. The whole of Europe was fairly decimated, but England was definitely the worst. Perhaps the worst of it all was the fact that Merlin didn't know if Arthur was dead or alive. Yes, he thought about him often. How stupid they'd both been. Merlin was willing to fight for what he believed in, but it hadn't been about him - it should have been about them, about working it out together. It should never have come to this.

He still wears the engagement ring on his finger. He's almost lost it once or twice, but it's still there - and he makes sure to take care of it and clean it, repair it. But that's not what this meeting it about; he's been selected to represent the magical community in the negotiations. All they wanted was their freedom back. Magic wasn't inherently evil; it was people that used it for nefarious purposes, people that mistreated it. They were willing to help put those people in jail. If only the non-magic users would understand.

They're meeting on what used to be Parliament, reduced to rubble, now. Merlin's fiddling with his hands, twisting the ring nervously. They've set up wards already; there are a few other magical delegates and guards there, but Merlin is to do the central talking. Still, there's only so much they can guard against, and if the non-magic users decide to attack…well, the magic users weren't going to be too keen on reopening negotiations after that.

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From:

royalpratness

The government had ceased to exist shortly after the war had started. Arthur had been a candidate for the next prime minister at the time and was voted to be the representative of the remaining government officials, once the war had been over. It was a little ridiculous he thought at times, as there weren't many people left to govern.

The part of negotiating with the magic users had been assigned to him, because he was one of the few non-magic users who had been in close contact with the 'other side'. In his case 'close contact' meant that he and Merlin had planned on getting married only a few weeks after everything went to hell.

Arthur approaches the building along with several of his guards and he can already make out several figures at the entrance of what used to the the parliament building. He hopes that this meeting will go well - or at least without anybody getting killed.

He gives a court nod to the two magic users guarding the entrance and steps past them, into the main hall.

From:

ayoungboy

Merlin's ears perk up when he hears the footsteps, and he stands, waiting for the non-magic delegates to join them. The others are tense, ready to fight if they need to but - but - woah. All the air falls out of his lungs as soon as that blonde head comes into sight. It can't be. No it's - he's alive?

"...Arthur?"

From:

royalpratness

Arthur stops dead in his tracks when he hears Merlin's voice and then spots him, standing in front of the other magic-users.

"Merlin." He stares at him, unable to process that Merlin is standing in front of him. The war had started only a few days after they'd broken up and Arthur had always assumed that Merlin was dead.

From:

ayoungboy

He's floored. He has no idea what to say and - god. He's alive. He's alive. Merlin gapes a little, floundering for words.

"You're - I thought - " He wants to stumble towards him and hug him. But he can't and - he's still wearing his ring. Is Arthur -

From:

royalpratness

Arthur finally unfreezes, his body moving on his own accord. Before his brain has a chance to point out that this isn't a good idea, he has rushes forwards, hugging Merlin tightly to his chest. "Shit, Merlin. I thought you..."

From:

ayoungboy

Merlin's arms wrap around him tightly, knuckle almost white against his back. He may never let go. "Me too. I thought I'd never - that you were - gone." He buries his face in Arthur's neck, letting out a strained chuckle. This is more relief than he'd ever thought it would be.

From:

royalpratness

"I made it out of the city just in time." Arthur's heart is still racing with relief and happiness to see Merlin again, alive. He catches a glance over Merlin's shoulder, seeing the puzzled and angry expressions of the magic-users. Giving Merlin another squeeze, Arthur lets go of him and takes a step back, clearing his throat. "So. I suppose you're the one I'm meeting here to talk?"

From:

ayoungboy

"Thank god," Merlin murmurs, smiling softly, almost regretfully, when Arthur has to pull away. "Yeah I - I'm the magical delegate. Are you...?"

From:

royalpratness

"Yes, I am." Arthur gives him a wonky smile, walking over to the only intact table in the room.

From:

ayoungboy

"This is going to go smoother than I expected," Merlin says quietly, smile widening as he follows him to sit. Both the magical and non-magical users follow closely. As if Merlin would ever try to hurt Arthur.

From:

royalpratness

"You think so?" Arthur raises an eyebrow at him, sitting down at the table. Well, at least there won't be any violence.

From:

ayoungboy

"If I can't compromise with you, there will never be any peace in this land." Merlin folds his hands as they sit.

From:

royalpratness

"We've already failed once at compromising." Arthur says, looking down at Merlin's hand as he notices the ring. He wants to comment on it, but doesn't want to - not when there are a dozen people watching them.

From:

ayoungboy

"And I've learned from my mistake." Merlin murmurs quietly. He twists the ring nervously; a habit he's picked up, but doesn't seem to be anywhere close to taking it off.

From:

royalpratness

While Merlin had hold on to his engagement ring, Arthur still had their wedding rings. They had picked them out together and Arthur didn't have the heart to get rid of them.

"Let's hope so." He sighs, straightening his back. "We need immediate access to the parts of town under your control. My people are running out of food and other supplies."

From:

ayoungboy

"You may have access," Merlin grants with a nod. "But no weapons. We're trying to negotiate a peace, and people are already uneasy. I can guarantee a protection ward on whoever enters our side of town, if you're still worried about magical attacks."

From:

royalpratness

"I don't think protection wards would make them feel any safer, quite the opposite, actually. They don't trust magic users." And rightly so, Arthur thinks grimly. "We'll have to send a small team to gather supplies." If Arthur can find any volunteers who are willing to risk going into magic-user territory.

From:

ayoungboy

"They're going to have to start. How can we begin to live together again if we don't start rebuilding bridges?" Merlin sighs a little. "Whatever the case, we don't want to see any guns."

"We also have some…prisoners. We're willing to do a peaceful exchange for some of them. Others have - well, we need to establish a court of law. There are been some atrocities on both sides and we recognize that some of our own are guilty of this too."

From:

royalpratness

"Do you really believe that living together again is on the cards? Because I don't. I think it'd be best if we kept our people separated, avoid any further conflict."

Arthur crosses his arms in front of his chest, but he nods. "Yes, that sounds reasonable."

From:

ayoungboy

"You - " Merlin blinks in surprise. And yes, his heart starts to sink. "Oh. I…see. Well that's - we don't want to avoid conflict. We want to end it entirely."

"Right, well…we can review the prisoners on a case by case basis."

From:

royalpratness

"Let's be realistic here. This war has only just stopped, most of my people are severely traumatised. All they want is for them and their families to be safe. They have no interest in rekindling any kind of bonds with the magic community."

From:

ayoungboy

"We can help. We can help more than non-magical doctors. We have healers. We were willing to offer our services." Merlin shakes his head. "I have an entire camp on the east side of town full of teenagers, Arthur. Run from their homes for their magic. They just want to go home."

From:

royalpratness

"Well, we don't want your help." Arthur narrows his eyes. "I have a camp full of orphans because their parents were slaughtered by your kind."

From:

ayoungboy

"My - " Merlin takes a deep breath and stops himself. "We're all the same kind, Arthur. Contrary to popular belief, we're all human."

"They were killed as soldiers. If not, they were casualties of war, and I think we've already established that we want a court system to try the people responsible, magic and non-magic alike."

From:

royalpratness

"I can't kill anybody with a flick of my wrist. We are not the same and we never will be." Arthur taps his fingers on the tabletop. "Yes, regardless, we'll need trials."